Cuteness

Jack was a real doll during our evening together tonight. It was the most gorgeous, cool and sunny spring day out. We went for a nice long walk, Mr. Jack sitting happily in the Bugaboo with his shades on. He has developed a slight obsession with Corydon's leash, and he kept sitting forward and leaning off to the side to try to grab the leash. It's always nice to see him acting motivated to move.
Another fun moment: Jack discovered the circular bamboo placemats on the table, and leaned out of his highchair to grab it. I put it on his highchair tray and for some reason he thought it was super super fun to pick up the edge of the placemat and then bang it back down. He laughed out loud, especially when I added an enthusiastic narration of "up! Down!" to accompany the movements. I managed to get a bit of the fun on video. Hooray.
And (the fun continues) Jack also really enjoyed playing "this little piggy". He giggled when we did "wee wee wee" with tickling up his leg and belly and into his armpit, and (this is the cute part) after a few repetitions he started to squeal "EEEEEE" each time I started the tickling. He was so excited. So was the dog. She has a hard time dealing with any enthusiasm I show when I am playing with the baby, and feels the need to immediately get into my lap, roll over, and paw me each time I clap or talk in a high pitched voice. Needless to say this made playing "this little piggy" more challenging than it otherwise would have been. But we persevered.

On an unrelated note, I remembered that I have not posted about Jack's first beer-tasting party, or his first time hosting playgroup! (All sorts of excitement...) The beer tasting was at Josh and Katie's annual fest. Jack did get to play with an empty plastic cup (post tasting) so may have gotten himself a hint of hops.... He was a very nice baby. A very small and stationary baby, too, compared to the two 18-month olds and one 2-year old who were running all over (I guess it was a combination of beer-tasting and playgroup, all on the same day). They are so big and mobile and noisy! It was nice to see Katie, who I haven't seen since the last party, I don't think. It was also really refreshing to talk with her about her impressions of motherhood over the past 18 months. She was very upfront and said that she could've really done without the first 6 months! :) It was nice to be able to be honest about the fact that dealing with the teeny-tiny baby is not all wine and roses. We all decided that most new parents lie rampantly, gushing over their infants and their love of motherhood, just to cover up for the fact that they're not sure how much they like their baby just yet.... its such a good thing that things get better.

Last week Jack also played host to the Thursday playgroup. His friends Gavin, Stella, Grayson, and Grady came over. Good times. Everyone had fun rolling about and taking the same 3 toys from each other. All of the babies also took a turn in the exersaucer. It's nice to know that our little man is popular and has the cool toys, already! :)